Soaring community outrage over the issue of child sexual abuse was this week fanned by a Tim Minchin song calling for Cardinal George Pell to return home to Australia to give evidence to the royal commission.

Tim Minchin’s latest musical offering, Come Home Cardinal Pell, is provoking strong reactions because of its blunt and direct message to Cardinal George Pell. But in terms of song-craft, it's a winner.

Some who survived abuse as children have waited a lifetime to be heard, and the royal commission has given people like John Ellis that opportunity.
AAP/Jeremy PiperNovember 11, 2015

An early finding of the ARC-funded research I and my QUT colleagues are doing on the Australian political media is the gradual withdrawal of free-to-air commercial TV from the current affairs space. If…

‘Freedom of religion’ does not provide a church with any more or less accountability for its actions than a trucking company.
AAP/Shepparton News/Verity LewisSeptember 17, 2014

Some religious groups are feeling under attack. They claim their “freedom of religion” is being impaired. For example, federal Attorney-General George Brandis, speaking to the Law School of Notre Dame…

Throughout his recent royal commission appearance, Catholic cardinal George Pell focused on the ‘choices’ that victims of abuse make.
AAP/Paul MillerAugust 22, 2014

Cardinal George Pell’s appearance at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will do little to rehabilitate his image in the eyes of clergy abuse victims. Via video link…

George Pell isn’t a personal devotee of new media, but he sees their value for spreading the word.
AAP/Paul MillerJuly 16, 2014

Imagine you were playing with your phone while you waited for the World Cup final to get underway and you suddenly saw a photo of the Pope Emeritus eating popcorn with the current Pontiff on your timeline…

George Pell explained his actions in the landmark Ellis sex abuse case to the Royal Commission by saying he was relying on legal advice.
AAP/Dan HimbrechtsApril 3, 2014

When counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse put it to Cardinal George Pell last week that his lawyers weren’t his moral advisors, she was implying that he…

Whatever one makes of George Pell’s legacy, the Catholic Church in Australia must tackle challenges on several fronts without one of its dominant figures of recent times.
AAP/Paul MillerMarch 12, 2014

With the recent appointment of Cardinal George Pell to Rome, the Catholic Church in Australia will lose a dominant figure. While there are criticisms, his influence and legacy are broad ranging. Pell’s…

Cardinal George Pell apologised to victims of child sex abuse by the Catholic clergy at a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the issue.
AAP/Joe CastroMay 28, 2013

Cardinal George Pell has apologised to victims and survivors of child abuse by Catholic clergy during his appearance before the Victorian parliament’s Inquiry into child abuse by by religious organisations…

Australian cardinal George Pell will be part of the new global panel of advisers, the G8, to Pope Francis.
AAP/Dean LewinsApril 18, 2013

Pope Francis I’s weekend announcement of a new council, the Group of Eight (G8), to advise him on Catholic Church governance and reforming the Church’s central administration (the Roman Curia) has been…

Labor elder Senator John Faulkner has called for a thorough reform of internal party practices.
AAP Image/Dean LewinsDecember 5, 2012

Since its nineteenth century birth, the Australian Labor Party has helped to define the country’s institutional landscape. But according to one of its most respected members, party grandee Senator John…

Cardinal George Pell says there is insufficient evidence to hold a Royal Commission into claims of sexual abuse by the Catholic Church.
AAP/Dean LewinsNovember 12, 2012

Report after damning report is rapidly revealing the dirty secrets of the Catholic Church. As fresh allegations and evidence abound, it seems we have a seismic shift in the battle for justice for victims…

Cardinal George Pell has faced questions about what he knew regarding allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
AAP/Dean LewinsJuly 4, 2012

The ABC’s 4 Corners this week exposed blatant concealment of a priest’s sexual assaults and rapes of children by the Catholic church in NSW. Admissions of guilt were made by the offender and documented…